When you come to build a new website, it is exactly the same.
Why build a new web site designed, if you’re just going to use the same structure and content that may not be the best fit for you and your business?
It is the perfect opportunity make a change.
We’ve made hundreds of websites over our combined years of experience, and still today, we hear the "oh just copy the content from the old site".
But by doing this all you’re doing is trying to teach an old dog new tricks. Sure, it may look visually better, but your new site has inherited your poor copy and site structure - and that impacts dramatically on the impression your visitors receive.
During the design process, we do love to work with you to discuss adjustments to your site’s structure to help improve the usability for not only your visitors, but also for Google.
Updating your site’s structure to be more user friendly can help visitors to your site keep browsing your site - it’s suddenly easy to for them to move between pages, understand the menu items, and find what it is they’re looking for.
Typically with a change in structure, some content reworking will need to take place too. And that can be a good thing! Expanding or simplifying your structure means that your pages may need to have a different message and call to action for your visitors to respond to.
When we suggest changes to structure and navigation, we do so because we have identified a potential issue with your site. Perhaps it’s not competitive for the sort of keywords you want to be found for, or maybe it’s simply not user friendly. We provide advice to help your business get the most out of its website - and allow your website to work optimally for your business.
When building a new site, remember that the web team providing the advice do this every single day. Yes, writing new content can be something intimidating, but by taking the time to make these changes to your new site, you can help elevate your visitor’s first impressions beyond just aesthetics, encourage them to stay on your site, and most importantly, pick up the phone to give you a call.
When your web developers are building your new site, make sure you have set time aside to consider the advice regarding your site’s structure, and have dedicated time to write copy for the new pages on your site.
Not everyone is a wordsmith - and if writing is just not your style, copywriters, such as our fabulous Rebecca, can help get your bullet points in to visitor-targeted and finely focused copy for your website. Ask us for help!
Marty Friedel
Marty has a background in Computer and Information Science, software development, web development, multimedia and web accessibility, and is Mity Digital’s resident nerd.
Outside of his programming work, Marty is a keen landscape photographer, and also teaches Les Mills group fitness classes.